Apparatus for feeding shells.



R..H. STANDISH.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING SHELLS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED 11911.20, 1910;

v 'Patented 111111.14, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. H. sTANmsH..

APPARATUS POR FBBDING SHELLS.

dQ11PLICATION FILED APR. 20, 1910.

Patented Mar. 14, 1911.

2 :SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN VEN TOR WITNESSES:

A TTORNE Y v-ayctnwewi: u known'that LrRAYMoNn STAND- i ycitizen of the.- United States, residing q,at Mart-inefz, in the county of Contra Costa l.andfState pfCalifornia, have invented new v`and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding` Shells, ofgwhich the following is a' v specification. i'

This invention relates to an apparatus for feeding shells to a machine for filling the same, and the object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this character which will be simple in construction and of great-capacity for its size.

In the accompan ing drawing, Figure 1 is a side view, -part y in section, of my im` proved shell feeding machine; Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is al detail perspective. view of a chute and tipping device adjacent thereto. v

Referring to the drawing, l indicates a stationary hopper supported by standards 2 on a .table 3, said table being supported by posts 4 upon a lower table 5. Beneath said table 5 is mounted in suitable'bearings `6', a horizontal shaft 7 carrying on its end a beveled pinion 8 which meshes with a bevel.

gear 9 upon.a vertical shaft 10, having suit.- able bearings in the tables 3,.'5. A upper end of' said shaft 10 and in the bottomof the hopper is a feeder head 11, formed symmetrically with reference to the shaft'lO, and having formed-in its periphery .a series of grooves l2 in vertical planes through the axis of the feeder head 11, said grooves being adapted to receive therein the shells.4 Depending from thel lower portion of said feeder head and in register with said grooves are a series of pairs of bars 13 forming'inclined and outwardly extending guideways for the shells, their lower ends being supported by a table 14 secured to the shaft. Said bars are parallel with each other and spaced, apart a distance which is greater than the diameter of the bodjT portion of the shells and less than the diameter of the rim portion thereof, so that the body portion can fall lbetween the sides vof the guidewa while the rim portionv cannot, consequentiy the shell assumes a position in which the rim portion is above t-he guideway, while the body portion is below it. The lower ends of the guideways are surrounded by a ring 15, having an opening 16 therein. Secured to lsaid ring adjacent to said opening is a iin- Upon the I, UNiTED s'rArEsPATENT onirica.

YSinteicafi 11 of Lette'ratentj Patented Mali; 14, 1911.' -frapiiii'eation mea-April 2o, 1910. Seriana-556,568. y

v' ger 17l which', in the rotation ofi saii'd shaft and guideways carrying the shellsfisadated-to engage the lowest shell which* then rotating yin contact with said ringdtndforce the shell through said opening. `i'"Arraiig'jed adjacent `to said opening is a chute 19 having a flaring upper end 20. As the shell is moved through the opening in the guide- `way, its lower end engages an obstacle Q1 supported on the ring causing it to tip over, so that the closed end of the shell descends foremost into the chute. From said chute it is lconducted by a suitable device to a tilling machine. Should the filling machine be stopped while the feeding device is still in operation, the surplus'shells4 which are fed to the chute are received within a box 24 and are carried up by an elevator 25 and recharged into the hopper.

It sometimeshappens with machines now in use that a shell has a nail in its interior when it is. fed into the filling machine. When the shell is filled with powder this generally leads to an explosion. It will be vseen that with my -invention this can not happen, because the shells can only be fed out of the hopper with their open ends downward, so that a nail which has entered said shell drops therefrom.

1. The combination of a hopper, a feeder head 'therein formed with grooves, a series of-guideways registering with said grooves, means for rotating said feeder head and guideways, al finger arranged adjacent to the circular pat-h of the ends of the guideways and adapted to engage the lowermost shell therein, and a chute arranged adjacent to said finger, substantially las described. 2.,The combination of a hopper, a feeder head therein formed with grooves, a series of guideways registering` with said grooves, means for rotating said feeder head and guideways, a finger arranged adjacent to the circular pathv of the ends of the guideways and adapted to engage the lowermost shell therein, and a chute arranged adjacent to said linger and a tipping device arranged to engage the lower end of the shell and tip the same as it descends into said chute, substantiallyA as described.

'lhc combina-tion of a hopper, a feeder head'therein formed with grooves,l a series of guideways registering with said grooves. means for rotating said feeder head and guiden-'ays, a table'having an annular rim with an opening adjacent to said ringer, substantiallv7 as described.

4. rl`he combination of ay hopper, a Jfeeder head therein-rotatable about a vertical axis and having in its surface grooves, the centers of which are in vertical planes through said axis, a series of guideways registering With said grooves and arranged in said planes, said guide sys being formed with two parallel rods spaced apart a dist-ance not less than the diameter ot' the bodT of the shells and not greater than the diameter of the riin portions, a chute past which the lower ends of said guideways travel, and means. for transferring the shells from said gnidewaysjintosaid chute, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a hopper, a feeder head therein rotatable about a vertical axis having in its surface grooves, a'series of guidevvavs registering with said grooves and arranged in said planes, said guideways being formed with two parallelrods spaced apart a distance not more than the diameter ot' the rim portions and more than the diameter of the body portions, a chute past which the lower ends of said guideways travel, and means for transferring the shells from said guideways into said chute, sub` stantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set mv hand in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

RAYMOND H. STANDISH. Witnesses:

FRANCIS H. WRIGHT, D. B. RICHARDS. 

